The invention relates to an apparatus for parting-off pieces, particularly pieces of candy, from a strand of material, and for further conveying the parted-off pieces to a packing station, further processing station or the like, having a parting-off knife and a continuous conveyor which comprises entrainment means disposed spaced apart in the conveying direction, which entrainment means catch behind the parted-off pieces and push these, on a conveyor surface, to the packing station or the like.
During the further processing and packing of pressure sensitive pieces, for example pieces of candy, portions of butter or cheese, which are parted-off from a strand of material, it can happen that the parted-off pieces are deformed if they are suddenly grasped by an entrainment means of the continuous conveyor and accelerated from a standstill to a comparatively high velocity. With parted-off pieces of somewhat harder, resilient consistency, as is the case with certain candies for example, it can also happen that the particular piece of candy parted-off jumps in the conveying direction under the blow of the entrainment means gripping behind it, as a result of which the normal course of conveying is disturbed.
In order to achieve a uniform conveying stream of such pieces parted-off from a strand of material, it was therefore hitherto necessary to provide intermediate conveying devices such as bucket wheels, pushing devices working intermittently or the like, in order to bring the pieces parted-off from the strand of material, with uniform spacing and as far as possible at the same velocity, onto the continuous conveyor, so that this can supply the pieces to the further processing or packing station with constant spacing and at a constant velocity. These additional transfer devices need additional drives which are adapted to the conveying speed of the continuous conveyor and of the parting-off device. They increase the cost of the whole installation and must be regularly serviced and cleaned.